Restaurant: ALTO Fire to Table
Location: 12969 Ventura Blvd, Studio City, CA 91604 | +1 (747) 202-1661
Date: November 7, 2025
Cuisine: South American (Argentina & Uruguay)
Rating: Argentine Fire Excellence!
Date night with my wife brought us to ALTO Fire to Table in Studio City, a South American restaurant that’s been making waves with its wood-fired approach to Argentine and Uruguayan cuisine. Located on Ventura Boulevard, ALTO centers its entire concept around open-flame cooking—the kind of primal, smoke-kissed technique that transforms simple ingredients into something extraordinary. When you walk in, you’re immediately greeted by the ambient glow of wood-fired grills and the intoxicating smell of meat roasting over open flames. It’s theatrical in the best way, turning dinner into a visceral experience that engages all the senses.
The restaurant specializes in the kind of live-fire cooking that’s central to Argentine and Uruguayan dining culture: fresh, locally-sourced ingredients marinated with care, then grilled over roaring flames until they achieve that essential char and smokiness. Everything from the proteins to the vegetables benefits from this treatment, and the open kitchen design means you can watch the entire process unfold. For a date night, it strikes the perfect balance—sophisticated enough to feel special, rustic enough to stay approachable, and flavorful enough to make the meal memorable.
We started with bread that set the tone for the evening.
Criollo with Herb Butter—I might not have the name exactly right, but this was an awesome crunchy layered brioche. The pastry shattered into flaky, buttery shards, each layer distinct and beautifully laminated, served with herb-flecked butter that melted into every crevice.
Heirloom Tomatoes & Peaches—tomato layers, cryo tomato water, roasted garlic crumble, fennel pollen. A stunning summer-into-fall composition that showcased peak-season tomatoes alongside sweet peaches, the cryo tomato water adding a clean, concentrated burst of acidity, while the roasted garlic crumble and fennel pollen contributed savory depth and aromatic complexity.
Chimichurri Prawns—grilled tiger prawns with housemade XO chimichurri. Messy but delicious! The prawns came head-on, charred from the grill and swimming in a punchy chimichurri spiked with XO sauce, creating this brilliant fusion of Argentine and Asian flavors that required enthusiastic hands-on eating.
Lion’s Mane Mushroom—roasted in the charcoal oven with grilled spinach and cauliflower. The lion’s mane picked up serious char from the fire, developing a meaty texture and smoky depth that made this vegetable dish feel substantial and satisfying alongside the grilled spinach and cauliflower.
Cordero Patagónico—12 oz lamb saddle, house-aged in beeswax for 14 days, grilled over rosemary leaves. Very meaty! This was the centerpiece of the meal: lamb aged in beeswax (a traditional South American preservation technique) for two weeks, developing concentrated flavor and tender texture, then grilled directly over rosemary branches so the smoke infused the meat with aromatic herbaceousness. The result was intensely lamb-forward—rich, gamey in the best way, with that essential char and herb-smoke complexity.
Daily Dessert Special—a dulce de leche Napoleon (or something like it), with layers of crispy pastry sandwiching dulce de leche cream.
Super crunchy and sweet. Very nice—the pastry shattered into delicate shards, the dulce de leche providing that essential South American sweetness, caramelized and rich.
ALTO delivered exactly what a good date night dinner should: excellent food, a lively but not overwhelming atmosphere, and enough theater (that open fire pit!) to keep things interesting. The standout was undoubtedly that beeswax-aged lamb—intensely meaty, perfectly charred, and showcasing a technique you don’t see often in LA. The aging process concentrated the lamb’s natural flavors while the rosemary-smoke grill treatment added layers of aromatic complexity. This is the kind of dish that makes you understand why live-fire cooking has been central to South American cuisine for centuries.
But the entire meal was solid. That criollo bread was awesome—crunchy, layered, and so much better than the average bread basket. The chimichurri prawns were messy but delicious, with the XO-spiked sauce creating an unexpected but brilliant fusion. The heirloom tomato and peach dish showed real finesse, balancing acidity, sweetness, and savory elements with the kind of precision that elevates what could be a simple salad into something memorable. Even the lion’s mane mushroom, benefiting from that charcoal oven treatment, felt like a substantive dish rather than an afterthought vegetable option.
The dulce de leche Napoleon finished things on a high note—super crunchy and sweet, exactly what you want after a meal centered on smoke and char. It provided that classic South American sweetness without being cloying, the pastry work showing real skill.
What I appreciate about ALTO is its commitment to a clear culinary point of view. This is unapologetically South American cooking—Argentine and Uruguayan techniques, live-fire everything, bold flavors, and generous portions. There’s no fusion confusion or attempt to be all things to all people. They know what they do well (grilling over wood fire) and they lean into it completely. The open kitchen theater adds to the experience without feeling gimmicky, and the quality of the ingredients—from that beeswax-aged lamb to the peak-season tomatoes—shows a kitchen that takes sourcing seriously.
For a date night in Studio City, ALTO hits all the right notes. It’s special enough to feel like an occasion but approachable enough that you’re not afraid to get your hands messy with those chimichurri prawns. The wood-fired cooking adds genuine flavor and creates an atmosphere that’s warm and inviting—literally, given the glow from those flames. If you’re looking for serious South American cooking with live-fire soul, this is a winner.
